Big returns on community engagement

Councilman Felipe Hernandez shops for fruit alongside members of the community during the Watsonville Farmer’s Market last month. (Kevin Johnson -- Santa Cruz Sentinel)

THE $500 PROJECT INITIATIVE

Submit your ideas to make Watsonville a more engaged, more fun, more beautiful or more inspired place on $500 or less. The $500 Project Initiative seeks to span the gap between ideas and action. It is all about facilitating idea implementation. There are no bad proposals.

WATSONVILLE >> People don’t fall in love with repaired potholes or a new traffic median. They are not emotionally connected by budget policy. In fact, as Watsonville has proven in the past year, community engagement doesn’t require much money or much bureaucracy at all.

Through a variety of gatherings, memorials, marches, art projects and social media, the ’Ville, as many residents call it, has fashioned a unique identity for itself, inspiring loyalty and passion along the way.

“Two years ago, Watsonville was at a real low point in terms of public image,” said City Councilman Felipe Hernandez. “People from North County were afraid to come down here for a high school basketball game. The perception was really off base, but it had become a reality.”

At roughly the same time, Hernandez heard social innovation expert and author Peter Kageyama speak at a League of California Cities conference. Kageyama advocated “little interventions” that engage a community, create identity and inspire loyalty and even passion.

“Everyone wants to talk about the big projects and events, but the best ones are often funded by little or no money,” Kageyama said.

When Hernandez heard that Kageyama had challenged a group of Palo Alto residents to make their city a better place on a $500 budget, he was intrigued. Their ideas included a program to reward people for telling jokes and a rented donkey to spread happiness around Palo Alto.

“We can do better than that,” Hernandez said.

To prove it, Hernandez has announced “The $500 Project Initiative,” an open call for ideas to make Watsonville a “more engaged, more fun, more beautiful or more inspired place on $500 or less.”

Watsonville already has plenty of inspirations from which to draw. Individuals and organizations such as Monterey Bay Murals, the United Presbyterian Church, filmmaker Consuelo Alba, The Appleton Grill, Second Street Cafe, White Hawk Indian Council and even the Watsonville Police Department have found inexpensive ways to reach out to the community and draw it together.

“They give people in the community a positive, fun way to be involved and spark all kinds of possibilities for the future,” said Jenni Olson. “We’re seeing a wider impact. Previously isolated groups are coming together and entwining.”

Watsonville Film Festival director and co-founder Consuelo Alba screens foreign and independent films at Green Valley Cinema and organizes the Movie in the Park event for families at Muzzio Park.

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In addition to creating the ’Ville’s brand and logo, Paul De Worken and Jaime Sanchez of Monterey Bay Murals have coordinated dozens of public art projects in some of the toughest neighborhoods in the city.

For years, residents and visitors have discussed ways to revitalize downtown Watsonville. Yet businesses such as The Appleton Grill and Second Street Cafe have already become vibrant community hubs by sponsoring events such as sold-out, all-ages music shows and beer tasting nights.

Watsonville also mourns together. When hundreds congregated in the City Plaza last month to plant a tree and remember 4-year-old Jaelyn Zavala who was caught in gang-related crossfire and killed in 2014, members of the White Hawk Indian Council danced among the mourners. The feathered performers have become an elegant reflection of Watsonville’s cultural fabric and a common sight at city gatherings.

Underlying these efforts is a tight-knit social media network that informs and activates the community.

When the Watsonville Police Department started a Facebook account in 2013, the page only focused on positive community updates. Yet it eventually encompassed crime after community response to posts resulted in the apprehension of suspects and the location of missing persons.

Lt. Saul Gonzalez, who manages social media for the department, called the site “an extension of our reach to our community.”

On Oct. 12, Gonzalez posted photos of the tree planting ceremony in honor of Zavala and wrote, “One of the Aztec dancers said it best during the memorial ceremony: ‘We’re all in this together.’ Rest in peace Jaelyn.”

THE $500 PROJECT INITIATIVE

Submit your ideas to make Watsonville a more engaged, more fun, more beautiful or more inspired place on $500 or less. The $500 Project Initiative seeks to span the gap between ideas and action. It is all about facilitating idea implementation. There are no bad proposals.

About the Author

Ryan Masters has more than a decade of experience reporting on both sides of the Monterey Bay. His primary beats at the Santa Cruz Sentinel include crime, higher education, the Santa Cruz Mountains, South County and the North Coast.
Reach the author at rmasters@santacruzsentinel.com
or follow Ryan on Twitter: @RyanMasters831.